If Xiaomi brought the MP camera first to the country with the Redmi Note Pro, Realme has decided to be first-past-the-post this time around, bringing a whopping MP lens to its quad-camera set on the new Realme XT. The quad camera set was just seen on the Realme and Pro. That’s quite a slew of devices and lenses from the Chinese brand, which has stepped out from under the Oppo shadow.

While the XT’s nomenclature is like Realme’s ‘flagship’ X, it is much closer in look, feel, specs and operation to the Realme Pro, with the big difference being a MP lens instead of a MP. The drop notch, quad camera strip on the back, lovely patterns and gradients, are very similar to the Pro.

Special mention for the XT’s back, however. The Pearl White review unit was a thing of beauty, with light bouncing off and also giving shape to gorgeous patterns on the phone’s back. The way it looks belies its price point and to the uninitiated, this could well look like a phone that is at flagship-level prices. The camera assembly juts out, but there’s a case in the box to do away with that awkwardness. However, the case robs the back of some of its sheen, which is a pity. If you are not butter-fingers, try doing without one if you want to flaunt it.

The front is pretty much the same fare from Realme. I personally feel its time for smartphone-makers to ditch the weird-looking drop notch. Maybe a slight bump-up in price and a pop-up selfie camera could have worked better for the Realme XT.

The phone also uses the Snapdragon chipset, a la Realme Pro. The version we reviewed had a massive GB RAM and GB+ storage. The is a very capable performer and seems perfect for phones in this range, given that they may find a diverse target audience. Gamers or those watching moviesvideos will not face glitches. There is some warming up of the back panel on prolonged gaming, however. For regular users, it is smooth sailing and the , mAh battery also keeps up with the day. Realme’s VOOC fast charging ensures quick juicing-up. The phone gets USB Type C connectivity, like the Pro.

The Color OS based on Android is pretty much the same and the bloatware apps can be uninstalled. You are also not bombarded with notifications, which is always great.

Now for the cameras. Apart from the MP primary sensor, the other three lens are the same as that on the Pro — for wide-angle, macro, and depth. This means that camera features stay more or less the same — no wide angle video, good macro given the price point, and portrait shots that are functional. The difference is when you shoot at the full MP.

The bump-up in the sensor gives you better clarity on zooming, more detail in the picture, and sharper-looking landscape shots. Switch HDR on and shoot at MP and you get huge image sizes, but useful ones in case you want to zoom-in post shooting and get into the details and crop stuff out. It also makes low-light photography slightly better and the Nightscape helps you shoot in the dark and the results are decent, like they were on the Pro.

The MP front camera is also similar fare, and Realme says that it will get the Nightscape soon too, via an OTA update. This is good news.

Is the Realme XT worth the few thousands more you would shell out, compared to the Realme Pro? Well, depends on how serious you are about your social media photography cred. is larger than , after all. And the megapixel race is heating up again. Your move, Xiaomi.

Price: ₹, onwards

Pros: Consistent performer, looks great, camera is fun to use

Cons: Too similar to the cheaper Realme Pro, camera features could have seen upgrades

]]>https://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/xiaomi-redmi-note-pro-full-specifications/feed/0Nokia 7.2 to Realme XThttps://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/nokia-7-2-to-realme-xt/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nokia-7-2-to-realme-xt
https://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/nokia-7-2-to-realme-xt/#respondSat, 16 Nov 2019 13:40:24 +0000https://newsfeedsblog.com/?p=14341Top camera smartphones under Rs 20,000 in India
-megapixel and -megapixel are new normal for mid-range smartphones in India. But it’s not just about the camera sensors but overall optimisations as well. Fortunately, some of the latest smartphones under Rs , in India perform this task very well. The experience has gotten better with a lot of software-driven features and optimisations. Here are our top five picks for the best camera phones in India under Rs ,.

Looking for a good camera phone under Rs , in India? Here are our top five picks.

Nokia .

HMD Global’s new Nokia . is one of the best camera phones in India under Rs ,. The smartphone comes with three rear cameras featuring -megapixel primary sensor, -megapixel depth sensor and -megapixel wide-angle lens. Nokia . also has a -megapixel selfie camera. Other key specifications of the phone include .-inch full HD+ display, stock Android, Snapdragon processor, and up to GB of RAM. The phone is powered by a ,mAh battery. Price: Rs , base

Realme XT

Prior to Xiaomi Redmi Note Pro, Realme XT has been the only mid-range phone to offer -megapixel rear camera. The phone has a quad camera setup. Other three sensors on the phone are -megapixel ultra wide-angle lens, -megapixel depth sensor and -megapixel macro lens. On the front, it has a -megapixel camera. Other key specifications of Realme XT include Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, ,mAh battery, up to GB of RAM and up to GB storage. Price: Rs , base

Redmi Note Pro

Xiaomi Redmi Note Pro is a tested performer. With -megapixel Sony IMX sensor, it has been one of the best camera phones in India as well. The phone comes with two rear cameras, -megapixel and -megapixel camera. On the front, it has a -megapixel selfie camera. The smartphone features .-inch full HD+ dot notch display, Snapdragon processor, up to GB RAM, up to GB storage. It is powered by a ,mAh battery. Price: Rs , base

Motorola One Vision comes with : screen HT Photo

Motorola One Vision

If you’re an Android purist, you’ll like Motorola One Vision. The smartphone comes with a tested set of -megapixel and -megapixel rear cameras. The phone has a -megapixel punch-hole camera on the front. Motorola One Vision sports a .-inch Full HD+ : display, ,mAh battery with Turbo charging, USB Type C port, .mm headphone jack, and fingerprint sensor. Price: Rs ,

Samsung Galaxy M

As mentioned in our detailed review, Samsung Galaxy M is a solid Xiaomi Redmi Note Pro alternative. The smartphone offers three rear cameras, -megapixel, -megapixel and -megapixel wide-angle lens, along with a -megapixel selfie camera. The phone runs on Android Pie-based OneUI and has a .-inch full HD+ Infinity O display. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with up to GB of RAM, and a ,mAh battery. Price: Rs ,

Others

Realme X and Xiaomi Redmi K are some of the top alternatives you can consider for good camera experience under Rs ,. Xiaomi has also introduced its first -megapixel camera phone in India today. You can check out Xiaomi Redmi Note Pro full specifications here.

]]>https://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/nokia-7-2-to-realme-xt/feed/0Realme 5 Pro review: Mostly excellent Quick Verdicthttps://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/realme-5-pro-review-mostly-excellent-quick-verdict/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=realme-5-pro-review-mostly-excellent-quick-verdict
https://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/realme-5-pro-review-mostly-excellent-quick-verdict/#respondSat, 16 Nov 2019 13:35:37 +0000https://newsfeedsblog.com/?p=14338The Realme Pro shows just how good mid-range phones have become in , because you really don t have to spend a fortune to get a very capable handset. The use of ColorOS and slightly lesser battery performance are issues, but this is otherwise an excellent value budget buy.&#;

&#; The good Varied camera mostly works well

Quick fingerprint sensor
Design looks premium
The bad Battery life could be better
Plastic body attracts fingerprints
ColorOS is intrusive where it shouldn t be
While it s launched in Australia with the realme XT as its flagship offering, the realme Pro sits just underneath, both in pricing and specification terms.

However, the drop in power isn t one that really makes an exceptional difference for that price drop, making it a better bet overall than the realme XT was.

Given the realme XT was and is in essence a cheaper Oppo phone, that makes the realme Pro a genuine standout device.

Design Sparkling Blue or Crystal Green finishes

.-inch LCD display
Teardrop notch
Rear mounted fingerprint sensor
Put the realme Pro next to the realme XT and you might initially struggle to pick which is the cheaper handset. That s because the realme Pro runs with a .-inch display, slightly larger than the .-inch screen on the more expensive realme XT.

You get more screen, but with a slight loss in colour reproduction, because it steps down from an AMOLED into LCD territory. Like so many Chinese-produced phones the default colour scheme is on the brighter side, and that s accentuated by the default ColorOS icon scheme, which tends towards the garish. The realme Pro s screen has a , x , pixel resolution, identical to that of the realme XT, although that extra . inch diagonal means it s got a slightly lower pixel per inch count at ppi. Unless you re particularly eagle-eyed, you re not going to notice that in day to day usage.

Like the realme XT, you re also looking at a teardrop notch at the top centre of the display, but you won t find an in-glass fingerprint sensor. Instead it s located around the back of the realme Pro s body, which is where you ll also find your colour choice at play. In Australia, realme sells the realme Pro in either Sparkling Blue or Crystal Green finishes. They re both bold colour choices, if not particularly innovative in this space.

The plastic rear frame of the realme Pro does rather give away its budget nature, as does its habit of picking up every fingerprint within a -metre radius when you pick it up.

On the left-hand side of the realme Pro you ll find the volume buttons and SIM card tray. Like the XT, it s a triple-card tray, allowing for dual SIM action as well as MicroSD expansion. That s a true rarity in any phone, let alone a budget-to-mid-range model like the realme Pro.

Back to top

Camera Four rear cameras, although the layout is odd

MP lens, but you re better off combining pixels
Low light shooting isn t great
In a rather bold move, realme describes the realme Pro as the Quad camera speedmaster . Slightly ridiculous marketing names aside, its primary rear camera features a MP f. sensor, partnered up with a MP f. degree wide angle camera, MP portrait camera and MP macro camera. Like so many budget phones there are lenses here you never really interact with that much, with the portrait lens used for depth effects most notably.

As numbers go, MP does sound impressive at this price point, but like many other phone cameras, by default you re not shooting at that full range. Instead, it s combining pixels to give it better light sensing abilities and longer hybrid zoom distance. You can elect to shoot at full MP if you must, but the results really don t often bear out for the additional image size you ll create.

As with the realme XT, the default camera app is simple and somewhat evocative of Apple s camera app, with most of the secondary features hidden behind either a hamburger menu or range of icons at the top of the display. It s not terribly well laid out – you might realise that MP photos or macro mode are enabled from the hamburger menu but miss that the wide-angle lens is actually switched on from an icon at the top, for example.

Still, having come from the realme XT, I was taken by the fact that there really wasn t much distance between the two phones in camera terms at all. What you re looking at here is perfectly adequate mid-range general performance, combined with the flexibility of those lenses to create specific photo types.

Not that this is quite a flagship camera phone. Macro shots have a tendency to be a little soft, and low-light performance tends to seriously oversaturate colours in dark environments in a way that appears entirely artificial.

Still, at its price point, the realme Pro offers genuinely good photographic features.

Back to top

Performance Snapdragon provides good mid-range performance

ColorOS is still messy
Default apps ask for odd permissions
Where the realme Pro trails the XT in pure camera and screen technology terms, there s no such divide when you peel back the screen and look at the internal components on offer.

It s running on the same Snapdragon processor with the same GB of RAM, which means, not surprisingly, that it offers essentially the same performance as the more expensive flagship phone.

We can see that rather clearly in its benchmark results. Here s how the realme Pro compares to similarly priced mid-range handsets using Geekbench s CPU test:

And here s how it compares running DMark

]]>https://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/realme-5-pro-review-mostly-excellent-quick-verdict/feed/0RealMe XT Full Reviewhttps://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/realme-xt-full-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=realme-xt-full-review
https://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/realme-xt-full-review/#respondSat, 16 Nov 2019 13:32:34 +0000https://newsfeedsblog.com/?p=14335The RealMe XT’s glass-sandwich design feels quality, with the flat back curving upwards to narrow at the edges. This makes the XT feel thinner than it actually is. The RealMe XT felt quality enough that it honestly felt like a shame when I made the choice to sheath the device in its handily-included plastic case.

The RealMe XT’s other major selling-point – a quad-lens camera – sits neatly in a vertical row mounted on the device’s shoulder. The exceptional main lens does the heavy lifting and produces great results but it’s only one of the four lenses on the device.

The wide-angle failed to capture detail and the mediocre functionality of the other cameras act as frequent reminders that you’re using a AU$ phone. Despite a seemingly-decent spec, the RealMe XT’s selfie camera was also a let-down. It often delivered washed-out and poorly contrasted images, especially in low-light conditions.

Credit: RealMe

Apart from some hiccups with Bluetooth headphones, the RealMe XT’s Color OS-based software experience was more-or-less functional. The new swipe-gesture navigation system generally works as intended but it can be finicky in certain situations.

Although the RealMe XT lacks proper wireless charging, it does integrate OPPO’s VOOC . fast charging tech – which allows for a half-charge of the device’s mAh battery in just minutes. In terms of everyday usage, the RealMe XT would consistently give me about two days on a full charge.

Although on paper, the RealMe XT experience might seem slanted towards the beefy camera hardware and fast-charging, the overall experience here is surprisingly cohesive and feels competitive for the price-point.

In Australia, the RealMe XT comes with a recommended retail price of AU$. You can buy it through:

The RealMe XT is not available on any postpaid plans but you can pair it with a SIM-only plan. Check below for a round-up of the best SIM only plans:

Our RealMe XT sample arrived in a bold ‘Pearl Blue’ color with a purple-to-blue gradient applied across the metal frame.

If you feel like you’ve seen this colour scheme before, you probably have. The RealMe XT flips the moody colors of the rival OPPO Reno Z from top-to-bottom to side-to-side. Similar to the OPPO R Pro, the most eye catching design quirk here is the ‘hyperbola’ effect found on the reverse side.

The aforementioned glass-sandwich design feels quality and utilises Gorilla Glass on the front and back, with the flat back curving upwards to narrow at the edges. This makes the XT feel thinner than it actually is. When I picked up my iPhone to compare, Apple’s flagship felt noticeably chunkier – though the difference wasn’t that great.

The device felt quality enough that it felt like a shame when I made the responsible choice of sheathing the RealMe XT in its handily-included plastic case. While this plastic case is thick enough to hide the XT’s noticeable camera bump, it does cheapen the pleasant feel factor of the naked metal and glass. It provides decent protection and covers up the noticeable seams in the phone’s design.

Credit: RealMe

The front-facing camera is nestled away in a traditional dew-drop notch. This marks the only real infringement on the pretty FHD Super AMOLED screen, with an integrated fingerprint reader helping keep the front on the phone uncluttered. Coming from Apple’s FaceID, this biometric security feature felt a little slow by comparison but worked well enough to justify its inclusion.

On paper, one of the main drawcards of the RealMe XT is its -megapixel main camera lens – RealMe say it’s the first high-megapixel lens of its kind on a smartphone.

The RealMe XT’s quad-camera array sits neatly in a vertical row mounted on the device’s shoulder.

Credit: Michael Serban

It’s worth saying that, out of the box, the RealMe XT won’t take -megapixel shots automatically. By default, the camera captures four -megapixel images and then synthesize them together.

Credit: Michael Serban

Regardless, the image quality that I got out of the RealMe XT’s main camera lens was impressive in a way that the other cameras in the array couldn’t match.

Credit: Michael Serban

While the bokeh produced by the RealMe XT’s portrait lens looked sharp, as did close-ups with the -megapixel macro lens.Credit: Michael Serban Credit: Michael Serban Credit: Michael Serban

Unfortunately, the wide-angle failed to capture detail and the mediocre functionality of the other cameras act as frequent reminders that you’re using a AU$ phone.

Credit: Michael Serban

The exceptional main lens does add weight to RealMe’s goal to redefine what a quality smartphone camera quality looks like at this price point – but it’s only one of the four lens.

Credit: Michael Serban Credit: Michael Serban Credit: Michael Serban

Also left behind is the front-facing camera. Despite a seemingly-decent spec, this delivered washed-out and poorly contrasted images – especially in low-light conditions.

Software
Powered by OPPO’s iOS-inspired ColorOS Android skin, the RealMe XT handles multiple apps and app-switching comfortably. In addition to the classic Android navigation buttons, there are two kinds of swipe controls that can be enabled through the settings app. Once turned on, these gestures allow you to navigate quickly between pages and between apps with a swift hold-and-swipe from the edge of the screen.

Although swipe recognition generally functions as intended, it can be a little bit finicky in certain applications. Good luck trying to remove yourself from a video-page hole without swinging wildly up and down, trying to find the sweet spot and a ticket back to the land of productivity.

Credit: RealMe

ColorOS ’s new swipe-down notificationcontrol center combo works a treat however, cramming all of the usual functionality of both into a nicely expandable design that looks good and gives you everything you need at a glance.

Pressing the side-mounted audio buttons adjust the volume level of the current sound playing, and, when unlocked, also brings up a menu to allow the user to adjust the levels of sound, notifications, and alarms, along with a one-touch silent mode. While it might leave you fumbling if you’ve gone into your meeting and forgotten to mute your phone, the core idea is executed well enough to provide on the fly adjustability for your different sound settings.

One strange inconsistency I found with the sound was a lack of volume unification with Bluetooth headphones. Although I tried using the RealMe XT with both the Sony WH-XM review here over-ear headphones and Boses’ SoundSport earbuds, the Bluetooth volume on the phone would not reflect the volume range of the headphones, leaving me constantly second-guessing about where I should be adjusting my volume from.

Benchmarks

The RealMe XT falls a little flat on the benchmark front, coming in the middle of the pack in most of the tested areas while failing to distinguish itself in any particular category.

PCMark Work .:

DMark Sling Shot Extreme OpenGL ES .:

DMark Sling Shot Extreme Vulcan:

Geekbench: single-core, multi-core

Battery
While the RealMe XT may lack wireless charging, it follows in the footsteps of its relative OPPO Reno Z on the battery front. Integration of OPPO’s VOOC . fast charging tech works like a treat, providing a half-charge in just minutes that easily carried me through the rest of the day.

Battery life in general was impressive from the mAh battery, comfortably stretching up to two days following a full charge on ‘regular’ usage.

Credit: RealMe

Representing RealMe’s top
friends with the new kid on the block.

]]>https://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/realme-xt-full-review/feed/0realme XT review: Good value in the mid-rangehttps://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/realme-xt-review-good-value-in-the-mid-range/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=realme-xt-review-good-value-in-the-mid-range
https://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/realme-xt-review-good-value-in-the-mid-range/#respondSat, 16 Nov 2019 13:26:31 +0000https://newsfeedsblog.com/?p=14332The good Nice design for the price
Very fast VOOC charging
Good range of camera modes
In-display fingerprint sensor
The bad Battery life a little low for a ,mAh battery phone
ColorOS is still a weird mix of Android and iOS
Realme – sorry, realme, because capitalisation isn t a thing, apparently – is an entirely new brand in the Australian smartphone space.

Except, that, well, it isn t.

It s a sub-brand under the BBK umbrella, the Chinese firm that also owns Vivo, OnePlus and, most pertinently, Oppo locally.

However, what you get with realme is the essential Oppo experience at a lower price point generally.
That raises the question about what s not present to enable those kinds of price cuts. That s a question that s more likely to apply to realme s cheaper phones, such as the realme C, because for the realme XT, there are very few

Design Pearl white or pearl blue finish

.-inch FHD+ AMOLED display
Simple teardrop notch
Optical fingerprint sensor
Not worth shooting directly to the MP lens
Macro lens struggles to focus
Performance Good app performance for a mid-range phone
ColorOS sits weirdly between iOS and Android now
Many default apps want a lot of permissions
Updates are tied to Oppo s calendar, not realme s
Battery life mAh battery is good at this price range
Wired VOOC charging, but no wireless charging
Verdict Very good value in the sub-$ segment
They say that first impressions count, and for a first effective flagship in the Australian market, there s quite a lot to like about the realme XT. It s a nicely built device that s enjoyable to hold and use, even if you don t like larger phones. The cameras are better than you might think possible at this price point, even if some of them don t quite live up to their promises.

Pricing and availability

The realme XT sells outright with GB of storage for $ in pearl white or pearl blue finishes.

&#; &#; &#; Excellent value

The realme XT offers a raft of exciting features and top-notch performance at an equally impressive price.&#; &#;

&#; &#; &#; &#; realme XT: Alternatives

Within the realme family, you could save yourself $ and opt for the realme Pro. It s an interesting step down from the realme XT, with a slightly larger display but lower camera specifications for $ outright. Stay tuned for our full review.

That kind of money could buy you the Mintt UltraMintt Y or the Oppo A if you wanted ColorOS specifically.

Motorola s just launched its latest G series phone in Australia, the Motorola G Plus, and we re busy testing that too. It retails for the same price as the realme XT.

]]>https://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/realme-xt-review-good-value-in-the-mid-range/feed/0Review: Nokia’s ‘Brick’ should be tied to a real one and thrown off a bridgehttps://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/review-nokias-brick-should-be-tied-to-a-real-one-and-thrown-off-a-bridge/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=review-nokias-brick-should-be-tied-to-a-real-one-and-thrown-off-a-bridge
https://www.newsfeedsblog.com/2019/11/16/review-nokias-brick-should-be-tied-to-a-real-one-and-thrown-off-a-bridge/#respondSat, 16 Nov 2019 13:22:50 +0000https://newsfeedsblog.com/?p=14329The year was 2000. Faith Hill’s Breathe was the hit song. We were safe from the Y2K bug. And Nokia released the classic 3310.

Never has such function been packaged in such an elegant form. And not just function – fun, too. Snake, anyone?

For many of us, the 3310 was our first introduction to a lifetime of having a mobile phone permanently attached to our persons. And we were spoiled. Remember not having to charge your phone every 45 minutes? Not having to wrap it in 17 layers of NASA-grade silicone to keep it crack-free? Remember not having to take out a personal loan just to buy the darn thing? (Yes, I’m looking at you, $2000 iPhone.)

They were good times.

Fast forward 20 years and Nokia has tried to bring a ray of sunshine back into the world with the Nokia 220 – RRP $89.

The little fella dropped onto my desk, for the purposes of reviewing. (My colleague got the new whizz-bang Google phone. Guess who the golden employee is?)

It’s billed as a back-to-basics phone – it makes calls, sends texts, has Snake. Heck, it even has a camera and lets you access some small corners of the internet.

“Enjoy more freedom with a long-lasting battery. Browse, download, call, play and listen without worrying where the nearest power outlet is,” Nokia touts.

Yes, yes I would love to enjoy more freedom, thank you 220. I was excited to break free from the shackles of my do-all-the-things smartphone, if only for a week.

Off on this wild adventure I embarked, with Faith Hill playing gently in the background.

Day one: Acclimatisation
The first thing I realise about using the 220 (affectionately referred to as The Brick) is that I’ll be without the magic of Spotify during my commute, otherwise afforded by my iPhone.

Thankfully, The Brick packs an SD card. “I can just load music onto the card, and away we go,” I think. Alas, I don’t have any music stored on my computer (because what 20-something-year-old does?), and no-one in my sharehouse has a card reader.

I search for my iPod for three hours in my 30-centimetre-squared bedroom. No dice.

That’s OK, I say, slightly panicked by now. The Brick has a built-in radio. I’ll listen to some PBS and ABC talkback and get educated. (Spoiler alert: the radio doesn’t work on the train. Something about being inside a high-speed metal canister doesn’t agree with its limited reception capabilities.)

I then realise 90 per cent of my conversations take place via Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, save the old people in my life. (Hi, Mum.)

I have to send out alerts to my group chats to tell them to text me for the next week because I’m going off grid. I know they’re not going to text me, and accept a state of FOMO.

Next, it takes a housemate and I half a bottle of wine, two YouTube clips and 35 minutes to figure out how to put the SIM card in the darn thing. Then I remember it’s a Nokia, therefore practically indestructible. I promptly turn into the Hulk and wrench the back open.

We’re on.

Day two: This is fine
The 220’s alarm goes off and I’m not late to work. This is a good start.

The aforementioned radio failure makes the commute a bit weird, but hey, look at me not being plugged into a device. I’m open to meeting people! Strike up a conversation with me! Then a baby starts crying and I yearn for my headphones.

I try to call my mum using handsfree. The headphones don’t work and I have to actually hold the phone to my ear. Oh, the humanity.

In the office, The Brick is a novelty. It polyphonically announces an incoming call, to much amusement.

Towards the end of the day, my thumb starts to get weary from the keypad texting. I also abandon all grammar and apostrophe use. I think I even write ‘u’ instead of you at some stage.

About 7pm, disaster strikes: The Brick’s memory is full. I have to delete its contents (a handful of messages and one photo of a chook) before I can send or receive any more texts.